So, I have never heard of gastroparesis before, i have been very nausious and have been vomitting, i cant each much without being sick, it also happens more at night, and i am very tired. i thought it was my acid reflux acting up so i started taking my nexium again. i went to the GI doctor he wants me to go for an endoscopy to make sure. but he is almost certain it is gastroparesis. I am 20 years old and cant understand how the nerves in my stomach are already damaged from high blood sugars, This makes me very upset because what is my future like ? this does not go away, they say it could get better with controlled blood sugar but it will never go awway and i could only imagine with age that it would get worse! Can someone please tell me how they feel about this?
Gastroparesis can be a complication of diabetes. But it is also true that non-diabetics can get this condition. So diabetes is an additional risk factor but not the only cause. Certainly it will help to reduce the stress on your nervous system by improving your glucose control and a1c. With better control some of the damage can be reversed. For diabetic retinopathy we have seen cases of total remission with better control. An A1c below 6.5 should be your goal. In Germany Alpha-lipoic acid is used as a drug for the treatment of polyneuropathies like gastroparesis. You should discuss this with your endo. It is disappointing but try to focus on the things you can do now.
This is an abstract of an article I have found about diabetic gastroparesis. Interesting is the part about the diagnostic methods and the successful treatment with agents: Symptoms of gastroparesis include nausea and vomiting, early satiety, post-prandial fullness, bloating and abdominal pain, but it is also frequently be asymptomatic. Patients with difficult metabolic control should be considered to have a disordered gastric emptying. Nuclear scintigraphy is the gold standard for quantifying delayed gastric emptying, but noninvasive methods, such as 13C-octanoic acid breath tests, exhibit a highly significant positive correlation to scintigraphy. The main goal of treatment is to minimize the symptoms and accelerate gastric emptying. The basic measures for achieving this are improved glucose control and low fat/low fibre diets that are easy to digest. The prokinetic agents metoclopramide, domperidone and erythromycin are successful in controlling symptoms in the majority of patients with gastroparesis due to diabetes. Patients with persistent symptoms or intermittent but severe symptoms may require surgical techniques such as the gastrostomy and jejunostomy. The significance of gastric pacing devices on gastric emptying and specific symptom controls have to be elucidated in further studies. Source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/g1317579t7125006/
While high blood sugars certainly contribute to complications, I don't think that is the whole story. I think that some of us are just more at risk of these complications. And despite our best efforts to control our blood sugars, we may still get things like gastroparesis. But that doesn't mean you can't heal from this condition and it doesn't mean you have to suffer from it. There are many other members here who have this condition and will hopefully chime in.
I found that Dr. Bernstein had some really good information in his book "Diabetes Solution" and on his website (look for the articles on gastroparesis).
I have had some bouts with this situation as well. Good control is key. It helps me to eat smaller meals. Try eating smaller meals more frequently and see if this helps.